An insight into the world of films from a girl obsessed with jellyfish

Day 42 – The Woman In Black

So here it is. The film I’d been waiting to see for ages. The film that began this intermission from my blog. A perfect way to start up again. So let’s do this! Day 42…

The Woman In Black. A modern adaption to a novel, old movie and play, this films follows Arthur Kipps; a solicitor on his last legs after the death of his wife, and on a case that becomes more dangerous than he ever imagined.

Now, I like the original of this film. My mum told me to watch it because she knew it would scare me. I watched it to prove her wrong: it’s an old film and therefore cannot be scary. Oh how wrong I was. So, naturally, upon hearing that this film was coming out, I knew that I had to watch it.

It’s taken me nearly 2 weeks to get around to writing this. And I’m quite glad I waited this long. Because I’ve had a chance to reflect upon it. And when it comes down to it, this film was just…okay.

I mean, don’t get me wrong. For a lot of this film, I was bricking it. I was literally huddled up on my cinema seat, hood over my face, begging for the scariness to end. I really was scared. But then the end (which was where it got me in the original) just didn’t compare at all. It was just a little…blah. Well, no. The actual ending of this film annoyed the crap out of everyone, and I mean everyone in the cinema. So the ending, as good as the film had been for me, has pretty much ruined it for me.

But like I said, there were definite scary bits. I can’t ruin the film, because it is worth a watch and I know a friend of mine is eagerly waiting to watch it. Not sure if he reads this, but I’ll play it safe. But I think a lot of the scare-factor for me was anticipation. I kept expecting things to be behind him when they weren’t and all that kind of stuff. And that, to me, makes it a scary film. But thinking back on it now, it possibly wasn’t that scary. Not compared to other films I’ve seen. The anticipation was what made it for me.

Now. Let’s move on to the issue that everyone has been asking: how did Daniel Radcliffe do?

His opening scene? Awful. My heart sank at his bad acting in the opening scene with his child. It was cheesy, stiff, and just plain awful. Besides, it’s Harry Potter. He’s shouldn’t have a child. He’s in school! Yes, I know he really isn’t, but that’s besides the point! He just shouldn’t be like that! Just no!

But then he started speaking to people who aren’t children. And for the life of me, I was rather impressed. When he isn’t being a hero, or loving, and just being a normal person, he does it quite well. He didn’t ruin the film for me (bar the beginning and end), and this is a big statement from me. In fact, I would go so far as to say that horror movies are possibly his forte. He plays the silent scared character very well. Possibly because he rarely has to speak, but that’s not the point.

I can’t really remember many of the other characters. The woman herself wasn’t that impressive. The kid (who’s supposed to be invisible) was a little freaky, but not overly so. So there’s not much to say on that…

Oh no. Wait. Yes there is. What happened to Spider?

The most epic dog in the history of films was thrown to the wind in this film. I loved that dog in the original film. But no. They scrapped her. This is almost as insulting to me as the scrapping of the mechanical owl in the newer Clash of the Titans movie. Ahem…sorry…rage averted…

Maybe this would be a good place to finish. I don’t really know what else to say. It scared me, but more because of the anticipation. Daniel Radcliffe was acceptable. And the dog was discarded. I would say watch it. But don’t expect wonders.